Jim

Have to agree about FNMA/GNMA - FNMA used to be a dependable investment vehicle earning a steady 6%. I yanked out of that a couple years ago. As far as specific legislation - I'm no CPA but some oversight regs similar to what came out of the ENRON scandels but applicable to the financial markets would be worth investigating. The Sorbane/Oxley regs have increased the amount of documentation/oversight needed in how revenue is applied, and will keep most (hopefully) of the most outreageous cooking-the-books methods in check. For starts - how could rebundled subprimes ever manage anything other than junk bond status by a rating firm? Instead they received the same rating as T-Bills and high end munis. And some limits on trading mortgages at all would likely be worthwhile.

The tax rebate is little more than pandering during an election year. It's really too bad. Seems that something more targeted to the low income folks who both need it and would spend it would be better; or some type of public works program aimed at repairing some of our rusting infrastructure - which would pay some wages and get some needed jobs done. As far as the current fiscal crisis - SC's quote of the Soros article is right on. Unfettered capitalism is interested in only one thing - short term gain. So the mortgage brokers, lending institutions, and Wall St traders made their commission and left others holding the bag. Hell, if Merril Lynch couldn't figure out the market implications how would you expect that some bureaucrat of a pension fund to know that Moody's AAA rating was a SOS? The market will right itself, but it's going to take a long time and it will be bloody. Wouldn't it have been better to tighten down a bit on the financial market oversight - which was proposed in 2004 but trashed by the Rep. Congress. Merril Lynch has uped it loss forcast from 2.5 to $5.1 Billion. Despite comparative losses Washington Mutual's CEO just got a multi-million dollar bonus - great work guys!! There is at least two more years of fallout from the subprime fiasco - some folks haven't even had their first rate jump. Can't wait to hear The Idiot's Wreck of the Nation speech tonight. What a contrast compared to how Clinton left the house in order.

That's a good question. I don't know. There's something about the Islamic movement in Europe, an increasing bent on isolation from the larger society, disenchantment, anger, and a retreat to fundamentalism that is ripe for the dark side. I've been doing some reading and it's weird. Why pick on the Spaniards? I don't know. Maybe they are just the easier targets of Western Europe and are therefore as good as any western nation(?)

I'd say they're doing rather well. They are just quietly doing good police work rather that heaving around all the political fanfare and declaring a "Worldwide War on Terror" WTF that is, making Axis of Evil speeches, or depleting their treasury on misdirected adventures.

"Sources on Capitol Hill and at the Treasury Department said the plan would send checks of $600 to individuals and $1,200 to couples who paid income tax and who filed jointly. People who did not pay federal income taxes but who had earned income of more than $3,000 would get checks of $300 per individual or $600 per couple. A Democratic aide and Republican aide said there will be an additional amount per child, which could be in the neighborhood of $300. Those who earn up to $75,000 individually or up to $150,000 as a couple will be eligible for the payments, said Republican and Democratic sources familiar with the tentative deal." Continuing the excellect fiscal conservatisim trend. Man. Can't blame this one soley on Bush - though I would feel much more comfortable with such a stimulus if our fiscal condition wasn't in the toilet. Some recent news from the CBO: We're spending $20 billion a month combined on Iraq and Afganistan - not counting things like medical help at home for the wounded, lost wages, etc. Our unfunded commitments for domestic spending through 2025 doubled from 2000 thru 2007, thanks to hair-brained bills like the Rebublican Medicare bill and tax cuts. Moodys Investment Corp. has warned the US that they may drop the US T-bill rating from AAA to AA, which would be unprecedented and investors would demand higher rates. Good luck as the Fed is madly dropping the Fed rate to flag the sagging economy.

I heard that Gulliani will using this guy in his latest campaign ads.

Give the slop that you are likely riding through I'd vote for the POS as well. Drizzle is one thing - that east coast cold, ice, and traffic is another.

Noticebly thinner biking crowd the past week or so. And it's one of the few times I resort to a face mask. How's that wind shear across the bridge these days?

Yea. But now I put a bright orange hat on it so I can easily find it in a crowd.

Look and run you finger over the tape. Sometimes it just may not be sitting right and it exposes a tiny part of the spoke hole. When you go over a bump the dang tube can get pinched or just the constant rubbing will do it. If any edge can be felt through the tape, that's not good. Also, some bike factory tape is this thin plastic stuff. Rip that out if you have it and put in the thicker standard white rim tape.

I'd check for: Worn tires - maybe time for new ones? Little devil pieces of glass imbedded in tire? Worn rim tape? -- that one got me for a while. Frikkin' cold ride the past few days. Bravo for getting out there. Seems like the bike traffic has thinned out.

If you're looking for a shop I'd suggest ProSki on Aurora North, at 90th street. Knowledgeable folks.

Of course the "incident" gets splashed on pg 1 and leads the nightly newscast. The talking heads have a field day. The truth, however, gets buried on page 15 and never gets discussed by the talking heads. Another day of liberal media.

I think the difference is that this idiot managed to do all of this at once. Quite an accomplishment. With Vietnam we could walk away and it didn't really matter much. In Iraq, we've made such a mess of things that there are no good options - and it will have long lasting repercussions .

While I believe Billy Beer was a national tragedy, I don't think it rises to the train wreck we now have. And while Billy was the president's brother, he wasn't nominally in charge, as is the current village idiot.

do you really think it's that bad? i fail to see it as the most drastically and acutely horrendous period the US has ever suffered through because of a presidency. hell, things aren't even that "bad"! You're kidding, right? Even the Republican candidates are running from the Bush legacy. Let's see, where to start. Faking the intelligence and starting an unnecessary war, cutting taxes at the same time, allowing an average of 7% increase in domestic spending a year while the Repubs held sway, passing a Medicare bill that's a deficit hog and giveaway to the drug companies, making the US the torture leader of the free world, losing all the world good will we had after 911 and those strategic alliances, putting in political hacks instead of seasoned diplomats in charge of Iraq, dropping the ball on Afganinstan where the Taliban is on the rise, loosening the reins on financial institutions that lead to the sub-prime repackaging fiasco, illegal wire taps on US citizens, extrodinary rendition, Gitmo, generous tax breaks for corporations and the rich that have added to the deficit. The list is quite long. In short - it's been a while since we had someone so bad on all presidential fronts. Tell me what exactly has gone well under this idiot. It's going to take a long time to dig out of the mess we've made in Iraq and the finances at home. Our kids will be paying for this mess. And then there's the lost opportunities. Instead of spending $40 billion a month in the desert we could have been investing in infrastructure, education, and health care at home. If there were a true fiscal conservative and social progressive in the Republican race I'd take a serious look at them. But, for whatever reason, the Republican party has abandonded their true fiscal conservative roots with Reagan and haven't looked back since.

While she would not be my first choice, yes, I'd vote for Hillary over the current crop of republican choices, especially given the recent record. Thank goodness Bush will soon be relegated to the one chore he seems to be fit for, clearing brush at his Texas ranch. What a legacy.

So given the track record of the Republicans this past 7 yrs, which party are you votin' for in 2008?

It's a great example of (current) Republican policies. Reduce taxes while going to an unneeded war, reduce oversight on finacial instutions, allow carte blanche in packaging and repackaging dubious mortgages as investment vehicles, and don't invest in long-term growth. Excellent. Great. Highest inflation in 20 years, housing starts have plummetted, foreclousures are going to balloon, huge federal debt, the only folks that have made out well are the CEOs and the Wall Street derivitive marketers, while the normal working folks are just beginning to see the reckoning. And we have 11 months more of these idiots. It will be good to get some adult supervison back in control of things. But it will be like cleaning up after the mother-of-all frat parties.

Here's a comprehensive article in the NYT magazine from a couple weeks ago that should make anyone unconfortable with the touch screen Diebolds. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/magazine/06Vote-t.html While no system is perfect it seems that the pencil-in ballots with scanners is the most accurate, and provides a paper back-up. Some of the stats on the Diebolds are alarming; switching of votes, up to 13% errors in actual elections, lost memory cards. From this article I get the sense that the problem with these machines is less that they are prone to hacking (which they are) but that they don't work well and there is no orginal paper trail to verify that the electronic data are correct. Most of the problem counties in OH and FL have gone back to pencil-scan ballots. PA, because of a bizzare state law, is still going with Diebold. Could be interesting especially for close state elections.

"You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.” ------Sir Edmund Hillary

You're correct on the historial aspect. But yes, I think the concentration of wealth today is analogous to the Gilded Age with similar influences on the political system. One example - debates used to be run by the League of Women Voters - now run by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is run by the former heads of the Democratic NP and the Republican NP, with very strong corporate, chamber of commerce ties. What difference does this make? They set the criteria for being able to get into the national debates, and make it very hard for Third Party candidates to get in. Combined with the two-party lock on how to become eligible for a national election in the states and even moneied thrid party candidates can't get in. It could be worse I suppose, but it could be a heck of a lot better. And the general public bears some responsibility for swallowing anthing that's thrown their way.

I think the political coverage is actually getting worse. Even NPR and PBS seem gripped by the horse race aspect or the latest "who-gives-a-rats-ass" fact, like the weepy Clinton story, instead of issues, needs, and analysis. As far as the general media - there is no liberal media in the US. And KK is correct about a controlling political machine. Both come down to money these days. Our political system is broken. Without sidling up to corporations with deep pockets you don't have a chance in getting your voice heard. Many folks say the internet is our salvation for new stories, but there is little, if any investigative reporting done by web sources. This is still done by large print organizations. The web is good for rehashing, opinion, and naval fuzz contemplation.

$5k per spouse if 50 or over in 2007. Goes to $6k in 2008.

No, no silly. It's to express their (collective) individualism. Passed a fat chick with the died black hair thing on a fixey the other day. She had a tattoo on the back of each ankle - an exploding firecracker on each, on the left it said "Cherry" on the right it said "Bomb". Oh, please.